Kaygusuz Abdal (1341–1444) was a Turkish people folk poet of the 14th century.
Background
In the 14th century
Alaiye was the capital of the small
Alaiye beylik (principality). Kaygusuz Abdal was born in or near to Alaiye (modern
Alanya,
Antalya Province of
Turkey). His name was
Alaattin Gaybi and Kaygusuz Abdal was his pseudonym. According to tradition he was a bey's son (i.e., prince). But instead of politics he chose to be a
dervish. His tutor was
Abdal Musa.
Life
Details of his life and travels are ambiguous. Most of the stories attributed to him are not reliable. His works however convey that he travelled to many places. He travelled to
Mecca for
Hajj. He also visited
Damascus,
Najaf and
Karbala. There are unreliable accounts of his visits to cities in the
Balkans like
Yambol,
Plovdiv (now both in
Bulgaria),
Bitola (now in the Republic of Macedonia) and
Edirne (now in Turkey). In
Egypt he gained the title
Abdullah Magaravi ("God's servant living in a cave") after spending several years in seclusion.
Works
His poetic works include:
[ İstanbul University Faculty of Literature ]
-
Divan,
-
Gülistan,
-
Mesnevi-i Baba Kaygusuz (3 Vol.),
-
Gevher-nâme,
-
Minber-nâme.
His other works are:[
]
-
Budala-nâme,
-
Kitab-ı Miglate,
-
Vücûd nâme
-
Saray-nâme
-
Dilgüşâ.
